English Dictionary
Definition independent in British English
independent
adjective
What are red words?
Around 90% of spoken and written English relies on just 7,500 common words.
These words are highlighted in red and are ranked using a star system.
- One-star words are commonly used
- Two-star words are even more common
- Three-star words are the most frequently used
adjective
What are red words?
Around 90% of spoken and written English relies on just 7,500 common words.These words are highlighted in red and are ranked using a star system.
- One-star words are commonly used
- Two-star words are even more common
- Three-star words are the most frequently used
▪ completely, entirely, genuinely, totally, truly
▪ advice, adviser, arbitration, body, expert, inquiry, observer, tribunal
The usual preposition to use with independent is of, not from:
✗ Credit cards make students feel independent from their parents.
✓ Credit cards make students feel independent of their parents.
✗ But I believe women have the right to be independent from men.
✓ But I believe women have the right to be independent of men.
The pattern independent from is used only when we are talking about a country that is no longer governed by another country:
Brunei became fully independent from the United Kingdom in 1984.
ruled by its own government, rather than controlled by another country
The Republic of Brazil became independent from Portugal in 1822.
not employed or controlled by a company
Many TV companies commission all their programmes from independent producers.
an independent school is not paid for or controlled by the government
fair because of not being influenced by anyone else
His wages enabled him to become economically independent of his family.
not depending on other people for help, or preferring to do things by yourself
Even as a child he was fiercely (=very) independent.
The incidents were completely independent of one another.
